The long goodbye
China DailyThis image released by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures shows Daniel Craig in a scene from "No Time To Die." In many ways, actor Daniel Craig gave us the James Bond we needed for the 21st century, although he's made it clear that the 25th entry in the tireless Bond franchise, No Time To Die, is his last. Accidental metaphors aside, Craig's Bond was very much of his time, as were the Bonds that came before him: mid-century macho, gaudy '70s swagger, correct and corrective '90s. So who better to construct a grand farewell for Craig's Bond than the crew that worked on the other four films: the majority of the supporting cast, writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, and two of prestige TV's finest, co-writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge and True Detective director Cary Joji Fukunaga? Fukunaga and Waller-Bridge make their presence felt in both visual flourishes — framing Craig in a circular hallway recalling the franchise logo, a lengthy "oner" —and the casual modernity imposed on the supporting players, chiefly Nomi, Q and M. Nomi appeases fanboys clutching their pearls at the thought of a nonwhite Bond or, gads, a woman in the role, and slots in nicely as another of the nine "00" agents of Ian Fleming's spyverse.